


A Story Told To Me By A Friend

by u_make_me_again



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arthur's Ring, Drunkenness, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Grad School Merlin, M/M, Mayor Arthur, Minor Character Death, Online Relationship, not necessarily in that order, set in Wales cause why not?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2014-09-29
Packaged: 2018-02-19 07:03:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2379245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/u_make_me_again/pseuds/u_make_me_again
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin and Arthur email each other. When they're supposed to meet in person for the first time, things go wrong. Based off a short story with the same name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Story Told To Me By A Friend

**Author's Note:**

> I am a terrible, terrible person. First finished fic is angsty as all get out. The short story is by Lydia Davis, an author famous for translating many of Flaubert's works. I recommended reading her book "can't and won't" it is definitely worth your time. Amazingly enough, I actually toned down the angst.

“Are you ready Mr. Emrys?” An unfamiliar voice asked.

Merlin glanced up from his hands, tightly grasped around both of his chair’s armrests. His fingers were white after releasing their grip. A severe looking man loomed over him, his eyes cold and hard. Yet, despite his rough exterior, Merlin couldn’t help but see pity in his eyes.

_Fuck_. “Yeah.”

“Right this way then.”

The man lead him down a empty corridor. Their footsteps echoed across the white walls, making the hall seem wider and more isolated. The only other sound was that of the lights, gently _whiring_ about their heads. Merlin grabbed his shirt front with both hands, then letting go and swinging them by his sides. Finally he shoved them in his jeans pockets, taking a slow and shaky breath.

“Through here.” The man stopped suddenly, motioning towards one of the many doors.

Merlin blinked, staring at the door and man in turn. With another shaky breath, he pushed open the door. The room on the other side smelt of soap and something bitter. Several silver tables were lined in the middle, all unoccupied except for the one farthest from the door. An aging man stood at it, back turned to his visitors.

“Yes?” His voice was cracked with age.

“A Mr. Emrys, sir.” The stern man replied.

The other turned abruptly around, anger clear on his face. “I thought I said-”

“He wanted to see in person sir.” The stern man was unfazed.

With a sigh, the other turned his attention to Merlin. He studied his face, taking in the hollow eyes and the furrowed brow. Merlin still stood hunched, though he had moved his hands from his pockets and back to his side when the man had gotten angry. Merlin gave the aged man a defiant look, as if daring him to send him away. The older man sighed, and returned to his table.

“That will be all Percy.” The stern man nodded, relaxing a little and exiting the room. He gave Merlin one last parting look, the pity much more clear on his face.

“Mr. Emrys, I cannot condone this.” The older man rose a single eyebrow to the younger.

“I have to see.” Merlin replied, as though he was stating an absolute fact.

“I understand the curiosity boy, but you must understand-”

“Please.” Merlin’s voice broke on the word.

The man turned to him, looking mildly surprised. He studied his face harder, and when he found what he was looking for he nodded.

“Alright then. The family hasn’t come yet so you’ll be the first.”

Merlin moved to the man’s side, staring at the white sheet on the table.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

The man lifted the sheet, revealing the ashen face and torso of a man in his late twenties. His skin was lighter than Merlin had imagined, and his hair a bit darker. The eyes were closed, so Merlin couldn’t confirm if he’d been wrong about that either.

“What did you find on him?” Merlin whispered.

“A wallet and a mobile.” The man responded, his ID tag reading ‘Dr. Gaius.’ “No license, just a few bank cards and a check out to Arthur Pendragon. His mobile also had several texts and three missed calls from ‘Merlin Emrys.’” His eyebrow rose once more.

Merlin turned away, unable to look at the body any longer. He inhaled sharply through his nose.

“He hasn’t been identified yet-” Dr. Gaius began.

“Don’t. Don’t lie to me.”

The doctor sighed, pulling the sheet back over his head. “How did you know him?”

“I-” Merlin’s eyes flicked back and forth, as though scanning the air for the right words. “He was supposed to pick me up at the airport. How...?”

“Heart attack, apparently. We haven’t finished examining him yet.”

“Oh.” Merlin barely breathed at all. “Alright. I think I need to go now.”

“Do you have sleeping arrangements?” Dr. Gaius asked.

“I was going to...stay at his house.”

“I see.” That pitying look was on his face, and Merlin hated it. “I know a woman who owns a B&B in town. I could call her and have her set you up with something for the night.”

“Thank you.” Merlin didn’t even bother to protest, too winded to refuse kindness.

The woman ended up driving to pick him up from the morgue (Merlin had arrived by police car), showing up in a bright yellow Peugeot. She had dark brown hair that curled around her kind face and gave Merlin a hug even before he introduced himself. Merlin stood awkwardly, not sure what to do with his arms before gently resting his hands on her back.

“Hello Merlin, I’m Gwen.” She smiled gently, and it was the first not sorry looking face he’d seen since his plane landed.

Merlin decided he liked Gwen very much when she ushered his still shell shocked self into the passenger seat of her car and threw his suitcase in the back with ease. She climbed back in and started the car, taking them away from the morgue and away from Arthur. Merlin wasn’t sure how he felt about that until she began chattering quietly, pointing out different landmarks in town and telling him their stories. Merlin let the noise wash over him and settled more deeply into his seat, staring out the window.

The Rising Sun was a surprisingly large wooden building, standing at at least three stories. Merlin stared at it as Gwen grabbed his luggage, and continued staring even while she pushed him inside. The interior was cozy and well decorated, paintings and flowers were everywhere. Gwen lead him past a particularly large painting of a castle, beautifully detailed and colorful.

“Lovely isn’t it?” Gwen smiled at it fondly when Merlin stopped. “Lance, my husband, painted it. Most of the art here is his.”

Merlin’s heart clenched painfully at that, and he lower his gaze to his hands.

“Oh dear. Gaius didn’t say who had...” Gwen trailed off, concern showing. “Let’s get you to your room.”  

Merlin numbly followed her to the bedroom. It had a small twin-sized bed and a desk, as well as a window outlooking a spacious yard. Gwen set his case down on the bed as Merlin stared out the window.

“We don’t have much business in the fall, so it’s just you and another guest. Our cook is whipping up something good for supper, so please join us if you feel up to it. Be warned though, she may hunt you down if you don’t come try her food.”

Merlin smiled, but it felt wobbly and thin, “Thank you Gwen.”

Gwen gave him a fleeting grin, and left him to himself. Merlin turned to his suitcase, opening it up and grabbed his laptop. Opening his email, he scrolled through the dozens of messages he had saved.  The exchange had begun when Merlin was doing research for a grad school paper, trying to get information on the history of a small village in south Wales. He’d emailed the city office, which had lead him to direct correspondence with the mayor of the district. Arthur Pendragon was his name.

Merlin scrubbed at his eyes, watching the emails turn from polite and closed off to familiar and relaxed. Somewhere along the way, they had transitioned to from correspondents to friends. Months after Merlin turned in his paper, he looked at the banter and _could it be flirting_ and realized he felt a lot more for Arthur than just friendship. It was around that same time that Merlin gave Arthur his number, and a tentative “call me?”

The first video popped up in the old emails, and Merlin clicked play despite himself.

A scruffy man was on screen, his hair errant. Merlin nearly had a heart attack the first time he saw the video, convinced that this must be Arthur. The man looked nice enough, though very different from what Merlin had imagined at the time.

“Hello Merlin.” The man’s voice was lilting. “I’m not Arthur, in case you’re wondering. I’m Gwaine, Arthur’s better looking friend.”

Here he looks of behind the camera, smirking at whoever is filming. A murmuring comes from off screen, too quiet to be heard clearly.

“Calm down, would you? Sorry, the Princess himself is behind the camera and doesn’t want me stealing you away with my charming good looks.”

A hand lashes out to smack Gwaine upside the head, and the video cuts to a different man, this time he’s the one holding the camera.

“Sorry bout that Merlin. This is Leon, another of Arthur"s friends. For whatever reason, he doesn’t want you to see his face. Something about it ‘being a surprise?’” The beardy man shrugs. “Anyways, he wanted to film this to prove that he’s not a scary old man who is leading you on. Also to thank you for your number, and say that he’ll text you. Apparently doesn’t want you to hear his voice either. Honestly, I think he’s afraid of disappointing you, but I think we both know that won’t happen. I’ve read some of the emails, and I’m pretty sure you’re as crazy about him as he is about you.”

The video ends there, and small note reads under it.

_“Sorry about Gwaine, he’s annoying and_ fired _. Didn’t get a chance to look over Leon’s video, hopefully he made sense.”_

__

Merlin had smiled at the time, and roped his friends into making a response.

“I’m not gonna read of the fucking cue cards, alright?” Will growled in the video. “I know what I’m supposed to say.”

“Shut up Will, you’re ruining the video.” Freya had pinched her boyfriend in the side.

“Ow.”

“Hello Arthur, I’m Freya, and this idiot is Will.”

“If I’m an idiot, what does it say about you for dating me?” Will snarked.

“That I have the patience of a saint.” Freya shook her head, eyes facing skywards. “Anyways, we’re a couple of Merlin’s friends.”

“Merlin says that you’re a dollophead and that he’s breaking up with you!” Will grinned unhelpfully.

“ _Shut up!_ They’re not even together yet.” Freya pinched him again.

“ _Ow!_ ”

“Anyways, Merlin wanted us to make this for him so he could also prove that he’s not a pedophile-”

“He totally is. He’s like sixty-eight and really, really- _ow_!”

“He is _not_ a pedophile and that he’s alright with not talking to you over the phone. He also wants to know if you got the package he sent? Something about a ring?”

Arthur had and sent back a picture of the ring on his pointer finger. It was how they were supposed to identify each other at the airport. Merlin hadn’t even asked Dr. Gaius about it...

Merlin slammed his computer shut, startling himself with the ferocity of the action. His hands clenched over the shiny cover of the device, and he was tempted to thrown it out the window. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was supposed to meet Arthur and hug him and go out to dinner with him. Arthur was supposed to be a little gruff but actually kind and concerned about his town and he was supposed to smile crookedly at Merlin and kiss him and.... not be dead.

A knock came at the door and Merlin wiped the tears off his face.

“Yes?” He croaked, wincing at how ragged his voice sounded.

The door opened to reveal the epitome of ‘tall, dark and handsome.’ The man smiled at him, his bright white teeth contrasting pleasantly with dark scruff.

“Hello Mr. Emrys. I’m Lance, Gwen’s husband.” Merlin noted how similarly they introduced the man in question. “She sent me to see if you’d like to come down for dinner. Our other guest is going to be there, as well as a friend of ours.”

“Ummm, sure.” Merlin stood from the desk. “You can call me Merlin.”

“Alright then, Merlin, right this way.” Lance graciously gestured down the hall.

They entered the dining room together, a large table taking up most of the room. A woman with long black hair sat on one side, typing away furiously at a mobile. Faint clanging came from another room, and Merlin assumed that’s where the kitchen and Gwen were. Lance motioned towards a seat on the opposite side of the woman and ducked into the kitchen.

Merlin sat heavily, staring at the glass of water in front of him. The woman glanced up, as though just noticing his presence.

“Hello.” Her accent was vaguely Irish.

“Hullo.” Merlin responded blandly.

“I’m Morgana.” She smiled, placing her phone down on the table.

Merlin was silent until he realized he ought to respond. “Merlin.”

“It’s nice to meet you Merlin. Have to come to our little corner of the world for business or pleasure?”

“Um.” Merlin furrowed his brow. “Former.” At least, now it was.

“Isn’t it always.” Morgana sighed as if she completely understood. Merlin thought it was doubtful that she’d gone to meet the love of her life and discovered he was dead though.

“Yeah.”

The silence stretched on, almost becoming awkward when the door to the kitchen burst open and Lance and Gwen popped out carrying various dishes.

“Ah Merlin, I’m so glad you joined us!” Gwen smiled genuinely, placing some sort of rice dish at his elbow.

“Morgana, is-” Lance gestured to the ceiling as though it made any sense, “-coming down?”

“No.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s still sulking.”

“Ah.” Lance nodded as he took his seat. “Seems as though our other guest won’t be joining us then, Merlin.”

Merlin glanced up from the delicious looking chicken, having remembered that he hadn’t eaten since the plane ride. “Shame.”

“Are you fond of monosyllabic responses, Merlin?” Morgana rose a sharp eyebrow.

Lance startled and Gwen looked a bit scandalized. She was about to say something when Merlin replied.

“Only if the situation calls for it. “

“There we go.” Morgana clapped proudly, strangely not being sarcastic.

“Morgana.” Gwen stated calmly. “Gaius recommended me to Merlin, isn’t that sweet?”

With that unsubtle hint, Morgana seemed clued in. She nodded as if all things suddenly made sense, and gave Merlin another one of those pitying looks. Merlin was disappointed, he’d been glad of being treated normal, if not like a dunce.

Gwen served out the food, piling extra on Merlin’s plate and saying something that reminded him of his mother. He neglected to tell her that all the food would just disappear, as he always did when Hunith brought it up. Instead he tucked in, relaxing as the meal progressed. Merlin even joined the conversation at some point, though the wine Lance had brought out certainly helped.

Merlin was in the middle of telling a really funny story about the time his friend Will had managed to get his pants stuck to a telephone wire when the door slammed open. Everyone jumped, turning to see a grumpy looking man in a beanie.

“Hello to you too.” Morgana rolled her eyes again. “Do you have to be so melodramatic?”

The man responded to this by very maturely sticking out his tongue. He swayed a little, and suddenly the situation became clear.

“You’re drunk, aren’t you?” Morgana demanded. “Of all the childish-”

“Oh shush Morgie.” The man hiccuped. “I’ve got a good reason this time.”

The man attempted to lean in the doorway, but instead stumbled into the room.

“Oh really? I’m dying to hear it.” Morgana threw her hands in the air.

“My date st-stood, stood me up!”

Merlin snorted, thinking to himself that that wasn’t quite as bad as his day.

The man turned, his outrage almost comical. “What you do that for?”

“Nothing.” Merlin shrugged, slightly tipsy himself. “Just not that good a reason.”

“Oh yeah?’ The man challenged, and he would have been more scary if his head hadn’t lolled. “What did your date do?”

“He died.” Merlin said before he thought about it, and saying the words out loud were worse than being thinking it.

“Oh Merlin.” Gwen whispered, hardly loud enough to hear.

“Excuse me.” Merlin stood, desperate to get away from all those pitying faces, even the drunk man looked ashamed. “Thank you for the meal.”

He fled and in his haste, didn’t notice the silver ring on the drunken man’s finger.

\---

Arthur was having an awful day.

It all began when some arse pickpocketed him at Tesco’s, leaving him with a bunch of food for him and Merlin and no money. They also took his phone, so he couldn’t text Merlin to say he was going to be late. Wanker.

The reason for his lateness was the awful traffic on the way in, and Arthur arrived at the airport an hour after Merlin’s flight was supposed to land. The lady at the desk told him that the flight had arrived, and what was worse, that it was _early_ , meaning that Arthur was _even more late_.

Arthur ran to the gate, searching the faces for Merlin (even though he didn’t know what he looked like) and found that everyone who had been on his flight had already left. Unfortunately, he couldn’t describe Merlin to anyone and was unable to find out if he had even been on the plane.

Arthur dashed around for over an hour, before giving up and heading to the B&B he had booked for the two of them. They were going to stay in town a night before heading out to where Arthur lived, at the double bedded room mocked him. The place was nice enough, ran by a friend of his sister’s, and Arthur wallowed in his room a bit before heading down to dinner with the others and someone else from the hotel. He may have been drinking some whiskey he got with money he borrowed from Morgana. Maybe.

When he got there, he realized two things. One, he was completely and utterly sloshed. And two, whoever else was staying at the B&B was pretty cute, and also had _huge ears_ , which made him slightly more cute. A bit more than slightly, actually. Like really really gorgeous. Which was awful because Arthur was supposed to be there romancing Merlin.

His outburst just made things worse, and the poor bloke ran off after admitting that his own date was dead, which was actually a pretty good reason to be drinking. So yeah. Bad day.

“I can’t believe you Arthur.” Morgana exploded. “He just lost someone dear to him, and you come in like a _total tool and yell at him!_ ”

“I didn’t know, alright?” Arthur sat in the vacated seat heavily, feeling very sorry the big eared mystery man and very sorry for himself.

 

“I swear to God, if you don’t apologize to him _right now_ -” Morgana’s phone began ringing. “Hang on. Morgana Pendragon speaking.”

The person on the phone spoke a moment, and Morgana’s eyebrows raised.

“No, I’m sorry that’s impossible.” Morgana listened a bit more. “I’m not grieving, he’s sitting right in front of me. Yeah, honestly. Okay, we’ll come by in a bit. Thank you. Uhuh. Bye.”

Gwen made a inquiring noise, looking at her friend curiously.

“Arthur, would you care to explain why I got a call from the hospital saying that you were dead and they needed me to ID the body?” Morgana’s voice was deathly quiet.

“Ummm???” Arthur’s alcohol addled brain chugged slowly, gears turning. “Someone stole my phone and wallet today, maybe it was them?”

“Oh my god.” Gwen suddenly burst, horror dawning on her face. “Arthur, what was the name of the man you were supposed to pick up from the airport?”

“Merlin.” Arthur smiled, saying his name out loud made him happy. But then he remembered. “He stood me up though. Wasn’t there.”

“Holy fuck.” Lance cursed. “Arthur, you need to go apologize right now.

“What? I thought we were talking about me being dead?”

“No, Arthur _go_.” Morgana had gone very white.

“Why should I?” Arthur crossed his arms defiantly, still very very drunk.

“That man,” Gwen started, “I picked him up from the morgue cause the person he was staying with had died before they could get him from the airport. His name is Merlin.”

Arthur blinked, his mind still working at a snail’s pace. “What do you......oh _shit_.”

He ran out of the room and towards Merlin.  

\---

Merlin sat in the garden, his feet straight out in front of him. The wine had been a nice distraction, but admitting that Arthur was gone out loud had brought him screeching back into reality. He picked at the grass and shuddered more than sighed, wiping more tears off his face. The door to the backyard creaked open, and light spilled around him. Merlin thought it must be Gwen or Lance to check on him.

“Um, hi.” A new voice called.

Merlin whipped his head around, surprised to see the drunk man in the doorway. “Hi.”

“Can I...?” The man motioned vaguely to the ground next to him.

Merlin shrugged, picking at the grass some more. The man sat next to him, remaining silent. Merlin ignored him for the most part, before he felt the eyes boring in the side of his head.

“What?” He demanded, turning to the man. The man startled, surprised at being caught staring.

“Sorry, you just look...” He coughed. “Nevermind.”

Merlin _humphed_ and returned to his very important job of ignoring the strange man and tearing up Gwen’s grass.

“I’m...I’m sorry about earlier.” The man said suddenly, uncertainly.

“S’okay. You didn’t know.” And it was true. He hadn’t known.

“No, not that. Um...” The man scratched his jaw. “I”m sorry about being late.”

Merlin glanced up confused. “Late? You mean, to dinner?”

“No.” The man looked frustrated now. “I didn’t... someone stole my phone so I couldn’t text you. And then your plane was early and I was late, and I couldn’t find you at the airport and I thought you had stood me up and I got really angry but mostly just sad. And then I drunk a bunch of whiskey, and yelled at you and you left and Morgana got a call saying I was dead, but _I’m not,_ it was actually the arse who pick pocketed me and now I’m fucking this up too.”

“What?” Merlin blinked, unsure if he had heard right.

The man made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan and a sob.

“Here!” He shoved his hand into Merlin’s face.

Merlin’s eyes adjusted slowly, taking in the gleaming ring on the man’s finger. He stared at it, and the drunk man began to fidget, not knowing what to do next.

“Arthur?” Merlin turned to him, whispering. There was a strange look on his face that Arthur couldn’t decipher.

“Yeah. Look, I know you probably hate me right now, and if you want to go home I totally understand and I’ll pay for your plane ticket-”

“Arthur.” Merlin interrupted.

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

And then Merlin swooped, mashing his lips into Arthur’s. Their noses bumped and their teeth clashed but then Merlin tilted his head and _there_. Their mouth’s slotted together as Merlin deepened the kiss, Arthur eagerly following along. They sat in the grass for ages, kissing and breathing the other in. When Merlin pulled away, Arthur felt dizzy and gasped in air.

“I thought, that you were dead.” Merlin’s voice cracked on the last word.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Arthur kissed his lips gently, then moved to kiss each eye.

“I thought that I would never get to see you, or hear you or touch you or anything ever.” Merlin gasped, his fists tightening on Arthur’s shirt.

 

“I know, I know. I’m here, I’m sorry.” Arthur whispered, wrapping Merlin into a hug, holding him to his chest.

“I was so scared.”

“I thought you didn’t want me.” Arthur confessed, running his hands through Merlin’s hair ( _It’s black, and soft and curls around his ridiculous ears._ ) “I thought you hadn’t gotten on the plane, or changed your mind.”

“No. I wouldn’t. I didn’t.” Merlin shook his head on Arthur’s shoulder ( _broad and strong_ ) and looked into his eyes ( _blue, just like he pictured_.)

“Okay.” Arthur stared back. “Okay.”

He leaned in first and they knew what to do this time, how to fit together. This kiss was less desperate and more tentative, each trying to figure out if the other was alright, and if they still wanted this. It was also significantly shorter, Arthur the one to pull away.

“Not that I don’t love doing this,” Arthur smiled crookedly and Merlin checked another thing he was right about off his list, “but you taste like wine, and I’m fairly certain I taste like cheap whiskey. Maybe we should save this for a time when we’re a little more...sober.”

Merlin laughed, a quiet stuttering thing like he was still trying to figure out what was happening. “Okay. But do you think we could ask Gwen for a room to share?”

“We were actually supposed to stay here anyways tonight.” Arthur ran his hands through his hair. “I rented a room with two beds.”

“Oh.” Merlin blushed a bit, ducking his head. “I meant...that we could share...one bed?”

“ _Oh_.” Arthur blinked. “Um...yeah? I mean, yes, definitely.”

“We don’t have to do anything...”

“No of course not...”

“We could just...”

“Absolutely.”

“Great.” Merlin stood, brushing off his pants, reaching down a hand. “Let’s go.”

 **  
** Arthur smiled up at him, grabbing onto Merlin and standing with him. “Okay.”


End file.
